THE ETHICAL ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH ONLINE QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

A Presentation By Paul Simon School of Environmental Design and Rural Development University of Guelph

Presentation Overview

¨  The Development of Ethical Concerns in the World of Online Qualitative Research

¨  When are You Conducting Online Research?

¨  Common Online Qualitative Data Collection Techniques

¨  Anonymity & Confidentiality Issues ¨  Problems Concerning Data Ownership

¨  Difficulties Regarding Consent

¨  Examining a Case Study ¨  Strategies to Overcome these

Dilemmas

An Evolution of Information Sharing

¨  The past couple decades has seen a dramatic shift in the ways that researchers collect data as a result of the heightened accessibility provided through the internet.

¨  This has provided opportunities for qualitative researchers to collect data from an array of sample groups in an online setting from previously difficult sources.

¨  Online qualitative research can be conducted through the use of various techniques including discussion groups, focus groups, participant observations, social media analysis, ethnographic studies, among others (DeLorme, Zinkhan &French 2001).

¨  When researchers are online, collecting secondary data must be done while adhering to strict documentation policies. But when treating the online environment as the field, in a practical setting, significant ethical concerns have arisen with primary data collection regarding confidentiality, data ownership, and consent (Brownlow and O’Dell 2002).

When are You Conducting Online Qualitative Research? ¨  For a researcher, using online resources is essential. However, using them in a

retrieval method, for example summarizing journal articles, would not be considered practical online qualitative research. It is imperative that a researcher knows when they are simply retrieving information, and when they are generating it so that adequate ethical considerations can be made. An online researcher needs to have stringent ethical considerations when they conduct online inquiry that:

①  Utilizes the internet to collect data or information (online interviews, surveys, automated data scraping)

②  Studies how people use the internet (collecting/observing activities, participating on social network sites)

③  Utilizes or engages in data processing, analysis, or storage of data sets ④  Studies software, code or internet technologies ⑤  Examines design, or structures of systems ⑥  Employs visual, textual, content, or other methods of analysis ⑦  Studies large scale production, use and regulation of the internet by government or

business (Markham and Buchanan 2012)

Common Qualitative Methods Utilized Technique Advantages Disadvantages Applications

Webcam Interviewing •  Real-time •  Researcher has sensual

benefit of visual and audio

•  Flexible scheduling

•  Webcam focuses upon the face, therefore other body language may be lost

•  Focus group replacement •  Website usability •  Concept testing

Online Journaling •  Deep data collected •  Unstructured, therefore

giving diverse responses •  No moderation required

•  No moderation/control of the data collection environment

•  No direct control over participants

•  Longitudinal studies •  Face to face •  Sensitive topics

Online Focus Groups •  Deep feedback •  Longitudinal insights •  Flexible platform

•  No immediate participant feedback – they have time to think and react

•  Longitudinal studies •  Sensitive topics •  Contacting difficult

groups

Online Research Communities

•  Deep, engaged conservations

•  “Listen in” •  Fast panel access

•  Can be expensive •  Requires constant

management & maintenance

•  Tactical Research •  Listening •  Preliminary research

Social Network Monitoring

•  Free •  Authentic •  Anyone can participate

•  No tools yet available to manage all data in a comprehensive way that social media generates

•  Listening to brand and product attitudes

•  Discovering trends

(Mora, 2010)

Privacy Concerns and the Internet…

¨  Maintaining privacy and confidentiality among respondents and potential participants when a researcher is conducting online qualitative research is absolutely essential. When online, a main method of initial contact is through email. Unlike in-person or phone outreach, emails can be easily duplicated, intercepted, and re-sent unknowingly to the writer (Brownlow and O’Dell 2002).

¨  Perhaps one of the most significant privacy issues when conducting online qualitative research is that there is no universal specification regarding whether or not the data is intended to be public or private. Participants often times do not know how data is being used, and in some instances are unaware that data is being collected.

¨  In addition, the relationship between the level of protection and the sensitivity of the data is not so clear in an online setting. When online in a chat room for example, it is more difficult for the user to ensure that their more sensitive information is not being viewed by unintended recipients (Elgesem 2002).

So Who Owns the Data?

¨  Determining who owns that data that can be found throughout the internet comes back to the question of whether or not the space is considered private. There is no standard protocol that has to be followed as each situation for different researchers is context specific.

¨  Is a posting on a bulletin board or in a open chat room public data? Or does this post belong to the author in the same sense as a excerpt from an essay? Are postings on Facebook and Twitter considered private or public? These issues further complicate the ethical dilemma arising from online qualitative research.

¨  It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine exactly who wrote the data, what was the environment that it was written in, and how they are going to utilize that data. This becomes apparent through the research design, specifically the methodologies that the researcher selects (Brownlow and O’Dell 2002).

How Do We Get Consent?

¨  As was the case regarding ownership, when gathering consent, the researcher must determine if the information is public or private. Informed consent is required when, “the behaviour of research participants occurs in a private context where an individual can reasonably expect that no observation or reporting is taking place” (Eysenbach 2001).

¨  For example, it would likely be of poor judgment for a researcher to assume that obtaining permission from a moderator of a mailing list is a form of community consent (Eysenbach 2001).

¨  TCPS2 offers the following guidelines to Canadian researchers in terms of gathering consent on the internet: ask participants to indicate their consent using check boxes; provide a hyperlink to FAQ; provide clear instructions for revoking consent; test participants on consent related material to access the study; and authenticate identity by validating an email address during initial contact (Government of Canada 2008).

Where Has this Been an Issue? ¨  A case study of unethical conduct in an online environment comes from

Europe in the form of a 1999 paper entitled, “The quality of surgical information on the internet.”

¨  This paper was published in the Journal of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (JRCSEd), which was then inputted into a larger database. The senior author sent copies of the manuscript to several professionals familiar with the research in the medical field (Eysenbach 2000).

¨  The author of a report which was published in the British Medical Journal a few months earlier, realized that the article published in the JRCSEd had excerpts extremely similar to those in their own paper, without any supporting documentation. Ultimately it was determined that roughly 36% of information contained within the manuscript was taken from other internet sources without any citations. The article was unpublished, and the author sent a letter of apology to users of the database for sections that were “broadly similar” to other resources, even though a substantial portion was directly adopted from other sources (Eysenbach 2000).

Overcoming these Ethical Dilemmas

Researcher will strive to maintain a respectful

sensitivity to the vulnerabilities and

privacy of participants of a virtual community, even

though its disclosure is publically available

Consider if the objectives of the research pose

any threat to the study group, as

well as whether or not the research will benefit the

group

Introduce themselves (the

researcher) to the study group in terms of study goals, purpose, and intention of

the research

Researcher should make an effort to always directly

contact the individual who

posted a message to seek consent

Researcher should always seek to

maintain an openness to

feedback from study participants

Before Researching ¨  The following is a flow

diagram of strategies to overcome the ethical dilemmas posed by online qualitative research adopted from ethical work completed by Barbara Sharf, a professor at the University of Minnesota.

During Research

After Researching

(Brownlow and O’Dell 2002)

¨  An extensive analysis of dealing with these issues in a Canadian context in accordance with TCPS2 can be found in the following slideshare presentation:http://www.slideshare.net/codyskinner/ethical-considerations-in-online-research-for-the-social-sciences-17237790

Conclusion

¨  Given all the different ways in which a researcher can utilize data from the internet, it is imperative that they always incorporate ethics within their research design.

¨  Although there are guidelines for ethical online research that have been developed, it is a relatively new problem that academics and students will likely encounter.

¨  Ultimately it is the responsibility of the researcher to ensure that they have obtained consent, maintained privacy, and ensured security of the data that they collect in their specific research context.

References

¨  DeLorme, Denise, George Zinkhan, Warren French. 2001. “Ethics and the Internet: Issues associated with qualitative research.” Journal of Business Ethics 33(4): 271-286.

¨  Brownlow, Charlotte, Lindsay O’Dell. 2002. “Ethical Issues for Qualitative Research in On-Line Communities.” Disability and Society 17(6): 685-684.

¨  Elgesem, Dag. 2002. “What is special about the ethical issues of online research?” Ethics and Information Technology 4(3): 195-203.

¨  Eysenbach, Gunther, James Till. 2001. “Ethical issues in qualitative research on internet communities.” British Medical Journal 323(7321): 1103-1105.

¨  Mora, Michaela. 2010. “Pros and Cons of New Online Qualitative Research Tools.” http://www.surveygizmo.com/survey-blog/online-qualitative-research-tools/

¨  ESCOMAR. 2005. ESCOMAR World Research Codes and Guidelines. http://www.afg-research.com/doc_privacy/ESOMAR_codes_guideline_conducting_research_using_Internet.pdf

¨  Markham, Annette, Elizabeth Buchanan. 2012. “Ethical Decision Making and Internet Research.” AoIR http://aoir.org/reports/ethics2.pdf

¨  Government of Canada. 2008. “Extending the Spectrum: The TCPS and Ethical Issues in Internet-Based Research.” Panel on Research Ethics http://www.pre.ethics.gc.ca/eng/resources-ressources/reports-rapports/ei-ee

¨  Eysenbach, Gunther. 2000. “Report of a case of cyberplagiarism – and reflections on detecting and preventing academic misconduct using the internet.” Journal of Medical Internet Research 2(1): 1-11 http://www.jmir.org/article/viewFile/jmir_v2i1e4/2